Tyler Glasnow was masterful over the first six innings and appeared to lose it in the seventh inning, ultimately coming out in some kind of pain. He said the cramping was in his right calf and some in his hand. It was evidently related to dehydration. He said he’s dealt with this before but didn’t realize how humid it was going to be inside the dome today. OK – Hopefully that is all. Glasnow has a 5-1 record, 2.72 ERA, and leads MLB in IP (43) and Ks (53). He’s headed for a Cy Young. What a horse!
Now that Glasnow is completely healthy, he is showing you why Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes eagerly traded Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca for him. That may go down as the steal of the century, even though Pepiot is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA.
FLASH: This just in. Chris Taylor got a hit. Remember, Kikuchi is a tough LHP and the Dodgers started their RH platoon against him… and won. Roll Dodgers! Michael Grove will be the opener today as the Dodgers are now18-11 and seek their 7th consecutive win.
On a side note, we have a great group of posters after the Three Morons left. They had their heads so far up their collective a$$es that they were legally blind. It’s a joy to write a blog and not have to listen to idiots.
Minor League Report
OKC BOX – Miguel Vargas and Andre Lipcius both hit HRs. Andre now has eight, and his season high is 12. At 25, have the Dodgers discovered a diamond in the rough? Stay tuned. It’s hard for me to say right now, but Andre has piqued my interest.
TULSA POSTPONED
GREAT LAKES BOX – Thayron Liranzo finally broke out and went 3-6 with 5 RBI, including his first HR of the season – a 3-run shot. Alex Freeland continues to rake (.357/1.121). Kyle Nevin is also looking solid. His power has yet to blossom, but it will. It is painful to watch Jake Vogel (.111). Noah Miller is flirting with .199.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA BOX – Edgardo Henriquiz faced 7 batters and walked one while striking out the other 6. Reynaldo Yean faced the last 4 batters of the game, walking one and striking out 3. Talk about gas! Jake Gelof reminds me of a RH Max Muncy – watch him. I am not nearly as high on Kendall George as many of you. He is fast, but I see him as a 4th or 5th outfielder-type. Zyhir Hope is fighting his way through a slump. It’s a game of adjustments. Can he adjust? Jerel Perez still looks legit after 65 ABs.
X-CITES
Tribute to Jimmy Buffett
The Coral Reefer Band and All-Star Guests at the Hollywood Bowl on April 11, 2024.
Does anybody know how severe the injury to dePaula is ? He left the game on Wednesday and has not played since.
That Henriquez guy just spits flame. Wow. Put him on the fast track and hope he could be an option by seasons end ?
Good to see the Dodgers finally playing a little smallball yesterday with CT3 layng down a perfect sac bunt.
Set up an additional run to give some breathing room in the end. Would not mind a little more of this. Practicing some small ball now will reap benefits in the postseason when runs usually are at a premium.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Dodgers say DePaulas’ injury is not serious and that he will be back in a few days. There is no plan to put him on the IL.
On small ball: It is darn near impossible to bunt a 100 MPH fastball with insane spin. For every bunt like CT3 laid down, there will be 10 outs made.
JJ Cooper of BA wrote this:
Despite introducing shift restrictions this season, Major League Baseball can do little to get more hits into the game.
This year, MLB batters were hitting .249, the fourth consecutive year below .250. Hitters struck out in 22.7% of all plate appearances.
For some, this is evidence that this generation of hitters has sacrificed the purity of hitting for the allure of swinging for the fences.
I can’t go there. As much as I enjoyed the baseball of the 1980s and ’90s, when there were a whole lot more balls in play, I can’t get frustrated at modern hitters. As I look at modern pitchers, I’m shocked they can hit as well as they do.
MLB today is filled with sorcerers. It’s a continuous stream of pitchers who rear back and throw in the high 90s and top 100 mph. It’s pitchers throwing 90 mph sliders. And probably as importantly, it’s a game where hitters very rarely get to feast on a bad pitcher multiple times.
I grew up in an age where Charlie Leibrandt, John Tudor and other crafty lefthanders could build successful careers by hitting spots and staying away from the heart of the plate. I don’t know if that’s actually a viable option anymore.
When pitchers dot the edges of the strike zone with an 88-92 mph fastball in 2023, hitters hit .267/.346/.464. Those same hitters hit .261/.261/.348 against four-seam fastballs of 98 mph or faster in the heart of the strike zone.
Yes, those are similar batting averages, but hitters are doing much more damage against a fastball with modest velocity on the black versus a harder fastball thrown straight down the middle.
We’ve seen a generation of hitters who have adapted as best they can to ever-increasing velocity. But at the end of the day, the faster a pitch is thrown, the less time a hitter has to react. That’s always to the pitcher’s advantage.
This year Twins closer Jhoan Duran’s fastball averaged 101.8 mph. That’s something that has no comparison from just a generation ago. In 2008, the first year that MLB began tracking the velocity of every pitch, the hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball was Joel Zumaya. His fastball averaged 98.3 mph.”
It’s a worthy read. A squeeze bunt is great when it works… but most times it doesn’t and frequently end up in a double play.
Henrique’s has zero chance of joining the club this year.
Zero.
Which three people left this blog? Where did they go?
hopefully glasnow is ok! dominated yesterday but ran out of gas! haven’t always been a rojas fan but praise the lord and pass the ammunition! one of AF s better under the radar acquisitions. now it does look like we have another platoon at 3rd base. now i’m coming to the MAX MUNCEY defense team! he has made some above average plays at 3rd and has hit most lefties well enough to play almost every day! wow! i’m checking the mirror to see if im really me! seriously he’s earned the right to play daily except for few days off here and there. it was Nice to see a sacrifice bunt yesterday! Mookie has been running more. We have some speed so let’s use it. Now I hit and a sacrifice bunt doesn’t mean you’re out of a slump. I believe Chris Taylor still has 3 to 4 weeks to figure it out. The biggest problem I see with him is he’s always been a swing and miss guy! so it’s even worse now than ever! poor old padres, getting their asses beat and doing their homerun celebration in the dugout! manny was out on maternity leave . he would have been back sooner but he didn’t hustle! seriously , congratulations to his family. how long will Doc let Grove go if he’s pitching well? starting pitching has given the bullpen some sorely needed rest. i’ll say this this way! man sure hate not having Will (hit machine) Smith in the lineup today! go barnes!
For his career, Max Muncy’s splits have been similar for lefties and righties, but last year he OPSed .881 against RHP and .642 against LHP. This year he is OPSing .908 against RHP and .723 against LHP.
It is what it is, and like Outman and Lux, LHP pitchers are exploiting them. He will platoon for the foreseeable future.
Roberts could have had Kike pinch-hit for Max today when Toronto brought in a lefty to face him with the bases loaded.
Certainly the Jays would have prefered to face Kike. And if this was a true platoon, Roberts would have made this dumb move. But Roberts didn’t.
While Kike has a higher BA against lefties, Max has a higher OPS and OBP–and a walk would have brought it a run. Only a moron would have platooned Max at this moment.
Max, of course, blasted a pitch to wall in right-center where Varsho made a fine leaping catch. As the highlights showed, the reliever exhaled with relief. Max missed the slam by a tiny margin–maybe half a millimeter too high on the barrel of his bat.
So I think the plan, as Roberts has plainly stated, is not for a platoon but rather to strategically mix and match to ensure that bench players see action to stay sharp and regulars get rest.
Seems like we’re talking about a whole different group of prospects than we had last year.
Some are injured: Ryan, Frasso, Hurt, et al.
Some are no longer prospects: Vargas
Somer were traded: Pepiot, DeLuca, Pepiot, Busch
Some are now suspect and some are prospects.
It’s a constant churn.
To every season, churn, churn
Well played…
And every pitcher has a purpose under Dodger blue heaven…
1:37 PM ET
Dodgers (18-11)
Blue Jays (13-15)
SP Michael Grove R
0-0 6.00 ERA
SP Kevin Gausman R
0-3 5.57 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
LF T. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
RF Andy Pages R
CF James Outman L
2B Gavin Lux L
C A. Barnes R
In Domed Stadium
Prediction: Outman breaks out today
This didn’t age well.
Sunday Dodger Minor League Schedule
10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jacob Meador) at Fort Wayne (TBD)
11:00 a.m.: Tulsa (Yon Castro) vs. Northwest Arkansas (Noah Cameron)
12:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Hyun-il Choi) at Albuquerque (Josh Rogers)
2:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) vs. Lake Elsinore (TBD)
Glasnow said he has had trouble with cramps before. So have I, and they can bring tears to your eyes. Early game today since they have to fly cross country to get to Phoenix for their next series. Phoenix lost Gallen to hammy tightness the other day. Sox traded for Garrett Cooper to replace Casas who is on the IL.
Gallen (hamstring) expressed optimism Saturday that he will make his next scheduled start against the Dodgers on Wednesday Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.
I think the team will exercise caution this early in the year. Seen this with other pitchers before. Not really his decision. Medical staff will make it for him. Since they are off to such a rocky start, not good if he goes down for an extended period of time.
The trolls come out together.
nerdboy again today! oh boy!
Fangraphs, even before yesterday’s game, says the Dodgers’ best defensive infielders are Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas, both tied with a 2.0 plus defense.
Fangraphs also likes Muncy, having him with a 0.8 plus defense.
He has Mookie with a 0.0 which I think is very good considering how little time Mookie has been playing SS, I think he is still adapting to the position, feeling little by little more comfortable and will continue to improve, he looks better and better .
Am I one of the three morons I hope.
I did not have you on the list.
could be a long day!
Well Grove has pretty much established that he is not a starting pitcher
After Barger, the Jays right fielder, nearly threw Kike out at third, I wonder how many of the fans in attendance knew they had witnessed both the fastest ball thrown by a non-pitcher AND the hardest hit ball in baseball so far this year?
Well, dang….
No wonder that play was so close.
Ok I am going to say it. How many times do the Dodgers lose on Sunday or get away day. Certainly not going to win them all. All too often the Dodgers put a lineup out there they know they won’t win with. We have a 300 million plus payroll and we can’t field a starting pitcher. On top of that we run the worst pitchers on the roster out there. Then every player swinging at the first pitch. We just seem to be satisfied to just give the game away. I tried to look it up but no luck. The sky is not falling and I have enjoyed the run but how about a little more concern to win.
Tried to look what up?
How many times the dodgers lost on Sunday or get away day 2023.
The fat lady is singing… for the Dodgers!
Might as well pinch hit for Ohtani with the game on the line.
WRT Sunday Games:
They are 2 wins 1 loss this season.
Last season they were 5 wins with 6 losses.
I really, really, really, hate bullpen games! Barnes has a higher BA than Lux and Outman. Smith needs a day off now and then.
5 feet short. What a job Yarborough has done for us this year!
How he wasn’t on the Post Season Roster when we had zero Pitching last year still mystifies me??
Teoscar slumping, Outman can’t hit, and Ohtani insists on expanding his strike zone with guys on base.
That catch by Springer on the Pages long drive might have been the BEST catch I have ever seen. Man, oh man, with his back to the plate running full speed, full extension, head long dive and makes the catch. Unreal.Willy Who ?:-)
Andy would have been 3-4 with another certain double if not for that catch. Still over .300. Kid is for real.
Who said he does not hit fastballs ?
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!111
The Jays made several rally-killing plays. It happens. Play on.
Fantastic play. Right up there with the best…. but I’d still give the edge to Jim Edmonds.
I liked how Pages tipped his helmet to Springer. Classy gesture.
And it pretty much summed up this game: The Jays came through on defense to win this game. Shohei’s first-inning drive to center had a 91% chance of being a hit, per Statcast, but Varsho ran it down. And Springer’s catch was better.
And then Max’s bid for a slam came up just short, with Varsho making a leaping catch at the wall.
The Jays have been struggling, and Gausman is their ace. He pitched like one today against the Dodgers’ bullpen.
BTW, Shohei is often compared to Gausman as a pitcher…
Eric, why do you continue to be a part of this blog if it makes you so miserable? Mark isn’t going anywhere. Living with that kind of animosity is not healthy.
I concur with Cassidy. There are times in life when we’re not going to see eye to eye. Best to move on and don’t let differences in opinion turn into resentment. It’s simply not healthy for anyone. There are times I don’t agree with some posters on this site. Whenever I engage, I make my point and move on.
Some people, not all, when they see a post that mentions them by name or disagrees with something they feel strongly about, just cannot help but retaliate. Been there, done that, a lot better now.
Fascinates me how one loss can make the fans turn on players. Give the opposing pitcher and the Jays great defense today some credit. The odds are that you are going to fail almost 8 of 10 times if you are an average player. Guys like Ohtani, Freeman and Betts, 7 of 10. So, pinch hitting for Ohtani in the clutch makes no sense at all. I think some of you guys are expecting perfection every time at bat. Muncy just missed hitting a go-ahead grand slam off of a lefty. This year, they have not been very good with the bags juiced. Last year, they had 11 grand slams, a team record. This year, they have none. Things will even out. They still are in first place by at least 3.5 games pending the results of today’s games for the Padres and Giants. Let’s see where they are come the end of May before we start slitting our wrists.
Seriously. The other team is almost always good. Losses are a part of life, thankfullly for the Dodgers they are a less frequent part than for most other fans.
Dodgers are the only team in the NL West over .500. They are 3.5 ahead of the Giants, and 4.5 over the D-Backs and Padres. The Rockies belong in AAA. OKC lost to Alb despite hitting four homers, Ward 2, Lipcius and Vargas. Gowdy got the loss. Arkansas 4, Tulsa 3. Great Lakes 8 Ft Wayne 3. Rancho 7, Lake Elsinore 4. Hope pinch hit for in the bottom of the first inning. No report on why.
Great, go somewhere you are wanted.
I am so sick of a few whackos who stalk me and show up here with their heads up their asses so far that they are legally blind. I will no longer engage. I will just get rid of them,
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Carry on.
Commenting on some player’s flaws or weaknesses that we see watching these games, is NOT ..”fans turning on players.”
It’s merely pointing things out that are TRUE ..and eventually need remedying.
I have no problem with that. Of course, some of it is subjective, but many people disagree. I am not talking about that…
You are fine.